Rio Tinto’s board of directors has approved the “world’s biggest mining project” in West Africa, reported the Financial Times. The miner will invest $6.2 billion in the mine, rail and port project in Guinea. The Simandou project, which involves the construction of a 552,000-kilometer rail line, is being progressed in partnership with CIOH, a Chinalco-led consortium, Winning Consortium Simandou, Baowu…
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Rhovan, a Glencore Ferroalloys managed vanadium mining and processing facility in South Africa, has commenced construction of a 25-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant that is expected to supply approximately 30% of the operations’ annual energy demand.
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Niger’s junta has temporarily suspended the granting of new mining licences and ordered an audit of the sector, reported Reuters. The West African nation has the continent’s highest-grade uranium ores and is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium, noted the news agency. France’s state-owned Orano operates the SOMAÏR open-pit uranium mine in northern-central Niger. Those operations have continued despite a…
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Barrick has confirmed it is accelerating progress for the Lumwana copper mine’s Super Pit project in Zambia, estimating first production in 2028. Barrick President and CEO Mark Bristow advised Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema of the fast-track during a meeting on 23 January. The project includes transforming Lumwana into one of the world’s major copper mines, with projected annual production of…
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Underground mining contractor Murray & Roberts Cementation and its client Palabora Mining (PMC) celebrated the last blast at the new ventilation shaft, which took its depth to a final 1,200 metres below surface on 9 January. The 8.5 metre diameter upcast vent shaft – which holed through to an already developed return air way at depth – is vital to…
Read MoreA tunnel collapse at an artisanal gold mine in Mali has taken the lives of more than 70 workers, per an AFP report. The incident occurred on 19 January but was confirmed by a local gold mining group leader on 24 January. Local media have said 73 bodies have been recovered from the operation in the southwestern town of Kangaba,…
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The board of Debswana, the joint venture between De Beers Group and the government of Botswana, has approved investment for a key development phase of the Jwaneng underground project, paving the way for the world’s most valuable diamond mine to transition from open pit to underground operations. The US$1 billion (BWP 13.6 billion) investment in the Exploration Access Development Phase…
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Ivanhoe Mines said the first shipment of copper concentrate from the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo has arrived by rail at the Atlantic Ocean port of Lobito in Angola. “Our first trial shipment is an important milestone on the path to creating a new supply chain linking the Central African Copperbelt to world markets,” said Robert…
Read MoreEpiroc has agreed to acquire the business of Weco Proprietary Ltd., a South African manufacturer of precision-engineered rock drilling parts and provider of related repairs and services. “This acquisition will strengthen our manufacturing capabilities and expand our product portfolio of spare parts in the growing and important African region,” said Helena Hedblom, Epiroc president and CEO. “We look forward to…
Read MoreAn illegal mine strike organized underground at Wesizwe’s Bakubung platinum operation in Rustenburg, North West, South Africa, has ended and all parties have convened in talks. The mine owner said on 9 December that the approximately 200 workers at the complex, who had been demanding pay increases and revisions to its maternity policy, resurfaced the prior evening at about 11…
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